So, in the G1 cartoon, he changed into... a sniper pistol? I don't know. Anyway, I was wondering: is there a type of gun that would suit him better? Like, say, a bazooka, or a machine gun?

 

When you want to eat a snack while you snipe.

 

That's what I see. Could be wrong.

 

I think Megatrons look it too tied to the walther p38 U.N.C.L.E special. All the attachments give lots of flexibility with extra weapons... which he never really used but beef out the gun mode. It’s also a sci-fi super gun so firepower isn’t an issue. It wouldn’t matter what kind of gun he was, I doubt it would chance his firepower. It’s mainly looks. So he could be a similar looking gun with a scope but a Bazooka would make a weird cylindrical robot. I think if your going to make him anything other than a silver pistol he may as well go way different. Tank, jet, whatever.

 

Have Megatron transform into literally anything other than a gun, please.

 

The problem is, everyone looks at Megatron through today's eyes. Look at him as if you were a kid in 1984, standing in the toy aisle, looking at the Decepticons. You've got three fighter jets, a tape player and some tapes, and a big, 1:1 scale gun that you can hold in your hand and terrorize your little sister or your dweeb neighbor or whatever. Which one of those toys represents the ultimate in evil badassery? It ain't the jets and it sure as hell ain't the tape player.

And that's why Megatron is--and should be--a gun.

 

I've been watching Letterkenny all day and this changed the entire discussion for me

 

He should change his gun mode to a different gun, but can't see what.

 

Listen, I love the gun. But to quote Michael Bay:
"That's like Darth Vader transforming into a lightsaber and someone else using it."
I always preferred Megs being a cybertronian vehicle or a earth tank.

 

A bazooka or elephant gun.

 

YES!!! This is a great explanation.

First of all, we don't talk about "Michael Bay".

Second, Darth Vader totally should transform into a lightsaber, and then have the Emperor use it. That'd be awesome.

Now, I'm gonna say this: if you don't think he should be a gun, give us a better idea.

In my opinion, either he's a gun, or a tank/turret cannon.

 

The one that can 360 No-scope.

 

I've said it before when this question comes up, that Megatron's being a gun makes him unique. There's dozens of tank guys, helicopter guys, fighter jet guys, but there's only a handful of gun guys. Megatron, Shockwave, Browning (  Masterforce), Sixshot's got a gun mode... and they're all generally perceived by the fandom as the Big Bads of the Decepticons (maybe not Browning, but, y'know, whatever).

It's that role-play aspect that made the gun mode resonate with us '80s kids. It was more acceptable back then for kids to play with toy guns, but there was still this dangerous mystique about it... guns were cool, cooler than tanks and helicopters that I'd never get to drive. With Megatron in my hand, the power of the Decepticons was mine.

It's the difference between using a weapon and being the weapon.

 

And in 1984 I thought the gun was the dumbest alt mode for a Transformer, let alone for a faction leader. 90% of the reason I liked Galvatron was because he wasn't a dumb gun.

And every Targetmaster.
And the Seacon limbs.
And a handful of the Action Master partners.

Because that's what Megatron was, a glorified Targetmaster.

Also, I always found the argument that the leader needs a unique alt mode is a weak one. Huffer, Pipes, and others exist who were also cab trucks. Ultra Magnus shares the exact mold as Optimus, yet for some reason, Megatron has to be unique? Where are the complaints that Starscream is a jet because there are other jet Transformers?

I suppose that's one way of looking at it. I had a small duffle bag of "laser" guns (more like light and sound), cap guns, squirt guns (that looked exactly like real firearms), photon/laser tag KO guns, and the like. Megatron was just a more fragile and less exciting gun on that pile.

But hey, to each their own.

Personally the 2 alt modes that Megatron has had over the years that I think truly fit him are the Energon gunship and the Animated Helicopter.

 

Yes, I look at Megatron through today's eyes...

...because now IS today, not 1984.

Gun Megatron ain't coming back to the mainstream anyway.


Also, Walther P38 was a dated design even in the eighties. It didn't age well since the WWII.

 

Well, my opinion isn't the universally agreed upon one. Even in the '80s there were kids who didn't like the gun (no one I knew personally, though).

The key difference there is the 1:1 scale, real-world-accurate, role-play element. The Targetmasters are tiny accessories to other figures, the Seacons have another mode that defines them... no kid ran around brandishing Seacons or Targetmasters at anybody. That was Megatron's primary draw as a toy, you could pretend he was a real gun. He looked and felt the part.

Pipes? Ultra Magnus? Whoa, you just left 1984. In 1984, Optimus Prime was unique. And also the biggest. That's what made him the obvious leader.

Starscream's no leader.

And going back to Galvatron for a second, he's also unique, no other character shares his design, and the toy does have a gun mode, they just never used it in the cartoon. (I assume you never used it either.)

When they started making Shockwave toys again, and he was a satellite and weird tanks and stuff, all I ever heard was "Why can't he be a gun, he's so cool as a gun!" Why that works the opposite for Megatron is a mystery to me.

I'm just explaining why gun Megatron makes sense to a lot (not all, but a lot) of '80s kids. We're not updating Optimus to a motorcycle or Starscream to a space shuttle, why are we dead set on changing Megatron? I mean, I know why, it's because guns aren't cool anymore. But still.

 

I can see both side of the argument, but truth be told, there was a lot of flaws with the gun thing, but at the time, the figure was selected to be the leader by Hasbro because the robot looked the part, not the gun.

Of course, the 80s were different and you could have a cap gun without people assuming that it was real, at least not over here in Canada because guns were NOT a typical thing, nor part of the culture like it is in the US, where you hear about kids having access to real guns on a daily basis for the last 20+ years now.

The whole "having another character needed to fire him" does turn him into a targetmaster and dims the "powerful" vibe a lot, something that in the 80s, kids didn't care all that much when watching the cartoons. Personally, I always felt the impression that he was a lot less powerful in gun mode instead of the opposite. Going from a huge fusion cannon on his arm to a small hand gun. I could do the math at a younger age.

Should he somehow be re-incarnated to a gun mode, he's have to be something huge and futuristic, so no earth weapon would measure up... something a combiner would be needed to use (so like Shockwave).. but still, I just don't see it at all.

He needs to instill fear and be a representation of his true power, and be an alt mode that would provide a display of an increase in firepower and abilities (otherwise, why transform at all).

The tanks, helicopters, and planes and such do show this, but I still feel like he'd need something more.

Heck, if anything, turn back time and make a different multi-changer (Sixshot type) into the original Megatron instead and that would be huge, or maybe something like robot/truck (or armoured type vehicle) that would have a "trailer/secondary section" (to truly be Optimus's yang to his ying) that would be an add-on to create other alts, such as large space-ship, massive tank, and also a massive armour/weapon upgrade for full battle combat.

 

If we're chosing real world guns, he's gotta be a beretta. It's pretty close to his G1 Walther design.
If he has to be a gun they'll design a futuristic gun, similar to the Combiner Wars design.
Realistically he'll never be a gun again.

 

I agree wholeheartedly with both of these arguments. I mean, which of these two images looks cooler? A or B?

A)*

B)**


Obviously, it's B.

(Right?)

*This is... I think it's the G2 toy. I dunno. Correct me if I'm wrong.

**This is a screenshot from the Combiner Wars web series.

 

I wanna get a silver p38 put a decepticon symbol on it and wait for the first home invader to say to them

"Meet my pal Megatron!"